RED
by tomboy author
Summary: What's the one part of Natasha's life that Clint doesn't know about? And what's so different about their new mission? Find out in ...red: Set in S.H.I.E.L.D
1. Chapter 1

…**...red**

**chapter 1:**

_Winds swirling around and around, the feeling of emptyness and isolation from every thing around you. She can't feel or see anything just...red._

_Red every where she turns, she looks down to see her hands and that's all she can see. She scrapes her hands furiously on the ground to try and possibly rid her self of it but no matter how hard she scrubs and scrapes her hands remain covered. Her senses begin to return although she now wishes they hadn't she can smell it and feel it on her hands, in her hair and caking her ripped clothes and sweaty skin. She feels sick to the stomach but knows that she won't be able to throw up._

_Staggering to her feet the world around is spinning and in a mess. She reaches for a pile of rubble of what remains of a building to steady herself. Suddenly the spinning begins to slow down. Finally it all hits her like a bad train crash. Her eyes and ears focus and soon she's sent in to hell. _

_Buildings are crumpled fires are blazing and the stench of burning bodies fills the air. She can hear the sounds of all men, woman and children alike wailing in despair and pain. She can hear screams and cries from distressed woman screamng and wailing of dead loved ones, men yelling and crying over their loss and finally about 4 meteres away crouched painfully over a crumpled, bloody and half burnt body sits a a small boy no more than 7 years old quietly sobbing over his lost loved one._

_She wanted to cry and to scream and to wail like everyone else at what she saw, but nothing came out. She just stood there staring at the young boy. Her face as set as a stone, no exprestion, no emotion to be found on her face. _

_She could have been staring for 1 second or 1 year she wasn't sure and frankly didn't care. She hadn't even registered her own pain yet or maybe she had and was just ignoring it she didn't know she just stood there watching and listening to the nightmare._

_She looks around at all the distruction and loss and finally once again down at her hands their all covered in red. She hated it, she loaved it and it was everywhere the sickening red that is...blood._

Natasha Romanoff sat once again on the edge of her bed and stared pointedly at her hands. She knew it happened years ago and that it was not her fault. She had been told to let it go and to move on. She had tried so very often not to think about it.

She had the most well trained and sharpest mind in the business. She had the toughest personality many had ever seen. She was fierce and unrelenting in just about any situation. Although she was all this and more she no matter how hard she tried could not forget that day, and staring down at her slim strong hands in her lap she could still only see blood. Red, sickening and gut churning blood.

She proceed to get up and sprint to the bathroom and wash her hands. She scrubbed and scrubbed, but still all she could see was the red, the blood caked on her hands from that day. She scrubbed and she scrubbed until she had scrubbed away her skin and her own blood began to wash down the drain. No pain registered with Natasha, she could still only see the hands of that day in Afganistan, covered in blood.

Clint stood there watching her scrub her hands so vigorously and said nothing. Usually Natasha could tell the second he was near, she had the best senses of anyone he knew but when she was like this and she was reliving that day all her training and skill went out the window. So he just stood there and watched her and tried to imagine something that would be awful enough to do this to the normally hard and tough Natasha Romanoff a.k.a Black Widow. As soon as she began to scrub away her skin and her own blood began to swirl down the drain, Clint decided this was enough. He slowly and without exprestion walked over, turned off the tap and gently lifted her now pink and slightly bloody hands away from the tap and turned her around to face him.

Clint was shocked at her face even though he had seen this face a dozen times. There was no emotion on her face, her beautiful lush lips set firmly in a straight line, her face set like stone and her body as rigid as a board. Anyone else who saw her wouldn't see it but he could. He had worked with her for so long, he knew her even better than himself sometimes. Some would call it love but both Clint and Natasha knew it wasn't. It was something deeper than just love, an understanding and an agreement, they only had each other and that was how they liked it.

No Clint could see past her mask, it was her eyes it was always her eyes that gave her away. Her beautiful green eyes usually lit up with fire always in control, but now dull and lifeless. He could see the despair, the anguish and the panic. Clint still said nothing. He didn't know exactly what she had seen all those years ago in Afganistan but what ever it was Clint hated it for making the one person he cared about be something she would deny to her dying breath. Natasha Romanoff was...scared.

Clint wishes he could take that one day away, or to stop Natasha from having to be there. Natasha never talked about it, not a word. It was the only secret Natasha held from him. A part of their partnership was to know everything about your partner, but not this, Natasha would always just say "Clint you don't want to know."

Wordlessly he just brought her small frame into his chest for a gentel warm embrace. They then just stood there holding each other in the middle of the small bathroom.

Natasha knew Clint wanted to know what happened that day in Afganistan and a part of her wanted to tell him but she couldn't, but she was glad to have him here. She felt him pull away slightly to look in to her eyes, and she waited for the line that he always said when he found her like this.

"Tash what happened?" He said his face the picture of concern, and as usual she replied with the same answer she always gave.

"Clint you don't want to know" She said in a monotone. She just stood there staring at him until they both felt a small buzz from their pockets, and at the same time the both replied.

"Fury"

By tomboy author

Hope you like it. If you want the next chapter please review. Oh and any suggetions are welcome but no flames.

The more reviews I get the quicker I update.

tomboy author out


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: **

He stood there like a tree, with authority and power. Like a king scrutinizing his servants.

"You have a new asighnment" came the calm yet scary command. Nick Fury watched his two best agents with a calm powerful exprestion equal to that of staring into the eyes of death...well make that one eye. The precarious eye patch lodged firmly into his right eye. The idea of the director of S.H.I.E.L.D having an eye patch would sound kind of funny to most people but this man seemed to pull it off scarily well, looking scary and demanding instead of like a wannabe pirate.

"You will be stationed a little whiles a way from the village of Kitscoty, Alberta in Canada an-"

"Ooh I've always wanted to go to Canada" interupted agent Barton.

"I'm sure you have Clint." Fury stood glaring at the young man who interupted him with both anoyance and a hint of amusment.

"Sir what are we doing in Canada?" agent Romanoff shook the glaring director out of his thoughts.

"You will both be given a mission summary but basically your after this guy." Fury proceeded to throw a large open black folder onto the large table infront of them.

Natasha looked down at the picture of the man standing out in the middle. She noticed his large muscular shoulders leading up to a almost tree trunk of a neck, and finally at the top stood a fairly normal looking face with a average pointy chin, roundish and slightly red nose with a gentle line of thin lips. He almost didn't look too scary or thretining except for his eyes. Agent Romanoff noticed right away a almost scary evil scowl indented in his eyes, almost like the smile of the devil himself. Natasha shivered, there was something about him that gave her a deja vu feeling.

"His name is Patrick Hoover, he's a rich oil barren having drilling sights all over the world. He unfortunately has a very bad habbit of trading money and weapons for help from the Terrorists."

"Help as in?" Clint asked looking concerned at Natasha who seemed to be staring intently at the picture of the man as if maybe if she stared long anough he would just go away.

"Well we've got proof that he has been helping certain terrorist groups take over certain areas in exchange for ownership of any oil sights. He has helped terrorists in attacks on Libya, Egypt, Italy, Austria, Russia, Pakistan..." Fury seemed to pause for a minute and look up at Agent Romanoff who was now watching him intently.

"and...Afghanistan."

Time freezed for Natasha. She heard the name and she knew what it meant, she now remembered where she'd seen that face, but she just didn't want to believe it. All that suffering all that destruction and this man helped...for money. She should feel angry or scared or both but she felt nothing or more specifically empty.

"Tasha" said Clint heitantly.

"What Clint? We have no time for chit chat we must prepare for the mission" and with that Natasha went into work mode and began walking towards the exit snatching a mission summary on the way to the door.

"So why is he in Canada?" She asked skimming over the file in her hands with no emotion in her voice what so ever.

Fury seemed to get over his reluctance and went staight back to standing with authority and answered her.

"The village of Kitscoty is one of his most isolated oil rigs. Because of it's location one of our sources has informed us of a meeting there between one of the terrorists leaders Mulhala Alkindo and Patrick for a huge attack and that's where you come in we need you to get him dead or alive. The details are in your summary, you will be stationed in a small shed situated 15 miles out of the town and you will wait there for your que."

Clint was about to say something but Natasha beet him to it. "Alright we better get going we have a long way to go. I will meet you on the helicopter in 15." With that Natasha walked out without even a glance back at the two men in a room.

There is chapter 2 for you. I f you want to find out what happens please review.

Tomboy author out


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